The United Nations Children's fund has asked Britain to sign the "safe school declaration" initiative to prevent children from being targeted in war. However, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has allegedly vetoed the request.
According to the Telegraph, UN expected Britain to be one of the major participants in the initiative, especially after the successful campaign against sex crimes by former Foreign Secretary William Hague and Hollywood star Angelina Jolie. Ministry Defence officials are no longer very supportive in extending human rights laws, because they fear it will just lash back at them, like how abuse accusations in Afghanistan and Iraq has been taking advantage of the British soldiers returning from war.
"The stumbling block was Philip Hammond at Defence," said Professor Steven Haines, a former British naval officer who was among the people who drafted the initiative. He is frustrated with Hammond's decision. "There's no way that I was going to draft something that would embarrass the British government," said Haines.
"The scale of the crisis for children is growing all the time, which is why there are now such fears that Syria is losing a whole generation of its youth," said UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Peter Salama, in UN's official website. "As a result of all the work being done by partners and donors, education and protection for children are now being prioritized. But what we must see in London is the step-change necessary to bring all children back to learning; to protect those who are at risk of dropping out; expand safe and inclusive learning environments; recruit and train more teachers; improve the quality of education, and support the development of technical, vocational and life skills opportunities for youth."
UNICEF's official site wrote that the Safe School Declaration initiative is part of its campaign to keep children safe during emergencies. It sends a clear message that schools shouldn't be attacked or used for military occupations. 50 countries have already signed up for the initiative, but UK hasn't signed it yet.
UK signature could help persuade the other UN members to "set standards" in war to protect children. United States, Russia, France, and China, hasn't signed the initiative yet.
